🪿 Crispy Roasted Duck Recipe

Name: Crispy Roasted Duck Recipe
Prep time: 15 min
Ingredients: 1 whole duck

This baked whole duck recipe, roasted with root vegetables, belongs in your kitchen. Duck is delightfully indulgent and should be enjoyed often. Discover the secret tricks that make the skin so delicious and easy to make.

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Canard Rôti

A succulent, crispy, roasted Duck Recipe that is perfect to make for special holidays or weekend meals. It only needs 15 minutes to prepare. It is a delicious dinner recipe that goes well with a variety of root vegetables that can be roasted with the duck in the same pan. It is also a great pairing with easy Boulangére Potatoes or Mashed Potatoes. It's a meal that tastes like you spent all day preparing!

Jump to:

❤️About This Recipe

And why is it my favorite meat?

Duck roasted to perfection is many people's favorite meat!
Duck is an excellent alternative to chicken and will be well-received by all who partake.
Preparing duck for special occasions like Christmas, Easter, or any other religious or secular festivity is a tradition for many people and a real treat any time you decide to serve it.
Duck meat is darker than chicken or turkey, but it is still considered white meat.
It is a lean meat because the fat is concentrated around the outer carcass of the bird to keep them warm while in the water and to make them more buoyant.
Steps 1 & 2 in the instructions below will be important to follow so the fat ends up in the bottom of your roasting pan and will ensure lean duck breasts.
The breast of a duck is rich, tender, and succulent. It has a stronger taste than industry-raised chicken and turkey, slightly gamey perhaps, but nothing like traditional game meats like venison or deer.
It easily becomes the favorite of many people when they try it for the first time. Because of its stronger flavor than other types of poultry, it lends itself to a variety of famous preparations that have become popular over the years, like Duck in Orange Sauce, easy Cherry-Sauced Duck Breasts, or Duck Hors d'Oeuvres.

📝Ingredient List

🪿whole duck

🔢6 Step Instructions

Hints:

Take your thawed duck out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before it goes in the oven. This will allow the meat time to come to an even temperature before it hits the hot oven. (A good practice when cooking any meat.)
You can cut the wing tips off before cooking, as they will burn if left on. You can tuck them under your bird if you like, as they will have more flavor this way when added to the broth pot, rather than popping them in the pot raw.

A raw duck with holes being poked in its white skin with a skewer.

Step 1

Pierce the skin of the duck all over with a skewer, be careful not to prick the meat.

A raw white duck sitting in a sink with hot water being poured on its skin.

Step 2

Place on a rack in the kitchen sink, and pour 2 full kettles of boiling water over the entire duck. Pat it dry with a kitchen towel.

A pink raw duck resting in the refrigerator.

Step 3

Place it on a plate in the fridge for an hour. This process will release the subcutaneous fat layer under the skin to give crispy, not fatty duck.

A pinkish white duck with beige wooden skewers holding the cavity together.

Step 4

Preheat the oven to a moderate 400°F/200°C/Gas6. Place the duck on a rack or trivet in a deep roasting pan/tin. The duck will release about 1¼ cups/300 grams of fat into the pan.

A pinkish white skinned duck with salt rubbed into the skin.

Step 5

Rub the duck with plenty of sea salt. Roast for 20 minutes per 1 lb/500 grams plus 20 minutes. (This is for an unstuffed bird, if stuffing add 7 minutes per pound.) The internal temperature should be 165°F/74°C.

A roasted duck with golden brown shades of skin.

Step 6

Spoon off the fat 45 minutes into roasting. If you have a lot of smoke, spoon off more. Once cooked, let the duck rest for 20 minutes before jointing your bird and slicing the breast.

A roast duck surrounded with roasted root vegetables.

NOTE:

My duck shown here was a little under 5 pounds, so I cooked mine at 400°F for 2 hours. (It was exemplary!)

Duck Cookery

An oven-roasted duck makes an excellent choice for a dinner party!

How Many People Will A Duck Feed?

It is vital to know how much duck you will need to feed your family or guests for a fancy dinner. A 4-5 pound chicken will make a meal for 4-6 people. In comparison, a 4-5 pound duck will feed 3-4 people, which is a common size available when purchasing duck in the supermarkets.

Considerations:

The appetites of your dinners. Big appetites require more meat.
How many sides are you planning to serve with the roasted meat? You can always cook 2 or more ducks at once.

Does Duck Have A Lot Of Fat?

Keep in mind that a duck has far more fat stored in its body than a chicken. In my instructions, I provide a method that works beautifully to reduce the fat that ends up on your plate. The extra fat can be used in the kitchen in more beneficial ways.

It is important to take these extra easy steps #1 & #2, before slipping the bird into the oven. This method will not only reduce the amount of fat, but it will also ensure crisp, delectable skin, which is super tasty and desirable.

Can Duck Fat Be Used In Other Cooking?

An added bonus to all that tasty duck fat released while cooking is that you can save it to:

Roast potatoes
Sear meats
Make dressings for hearty greens like kale and radicchio
Add richness to vegetables
It's also great for frying and baking
Making confit (any sort of preserved food, whether it's meat, fruit, or vegetables, by long, slow cooking in a liquid).
When baking pastry, half the butter can be replaced with duck fat for a lighter, flakier, and tastier result!
And who would guess that chocolate and duck fat make a great complementary taste experience?!? Think chocolate mousse, chocolate shells, or chicken coating!

How To Carve A Duck

First and very important, let your roast duck rest for 15-20 minutes to retain the lovely juices in the meat before cutting into it.
Don't try to carve a duck, joint it. Remove the legs just as you would a chicken.
Then take the breasts off the bone, which will make the duck go much further.
To separate the breasts, ease your knife along the breast bone to remove it, and then it will be easy to slice up the breast.
Then tackle the bits of meat here and there around the carcass.

This will give four good servings of tender meat without any fattiness, and the legs and bits, which you can make tasty Rillettes De Canard for your appetizer table.

Ways To Stuff A Duck & Sauce It Up

Stuff the duck with this stuffing from my Roasted Goose Recipe.
Fill the duck cavity with apples that have been cored and quartered or pitted plums.
Stuff your duck with my Pilau Rice Recipe.
Make Duck L'Orange Sauce instead of gravy or exquisite Cherry Sauce.

What To Serve With Roast Duck

Green Beans With Onions are a very simple and quick side dish.
Garlic mashed potatoes are always a winner.
Simply surround your duck with a variety of root vegetables like potatoes, carrots, parsnips, and of course, onions and garlic, roasted alongside the duck.

🍇Wine Pairing

Sweet white wine, Riesling, Moscato, White Zinfandel, or Eiswein
Pinot Gris, a spicy, fruity (orange perhaps or buttery and honey)
Pinot Noir

🔄Substitutions

The substitutions to make here are with Roasted Goose, Roasted Chicken, or Roasted Turkey.

Top Tip

It is important to follow the first and second steps to have the most delicious, crisp skin.

❄️Storage

A raw duck will stay fresh in the fridge no longer than 1-2 days.
Cooked duck will keep for 3-4 days in the refrigerator, well-wrapped.
Cooked duck can be frozen tightly wrapped for 2-3 months.

Information about storage and safe handling Duck and Goose from Farm to Table

❔FAQ

How long does it take to roast a duck?

To roast a duck at 400°F/200°C/Gas6, multiply 20 minutes per pound and add 20 minutes.

Should you cover a duck with foil when roasting?

If you are roasting your bird at 400°F/200°C/Gas6, you do not have to cover it with foil. The higher temperature will seal the outside to keep the moisture inside.

What mistakes to people make when cooking duck?

There are a few common errors people make with duck:
1. Bringing the meat straight from the refrigerator to a hot oven or pan.
2. Omitting to score the skin or pierce it to release the fat while cooking.
3. Believing that duck is too difficult to cook at home.
4. Trying to carve a duck like a chicken, when jointing it, is the best way.
5. Not knowing that duck breast, unlike chicken, can be eaten pink.
6. Omitting to compensate for the fact that the legs are dark meat and take longer to cook than the breast.

Are frozen ducks good to use, and how long to thaw?

Yes, frozen ducks are a great purchase, especially if it has not been frozen for longer than 2 years. To thaw a duck, take it out of the freezer and place it in a dish in the refrigerator the night before you want to cook it. It must be cooked that day or the next.

More Wonderful Roast Dishes

Roasted Lamb Shoulder With Piment d'Esplette
How To Cook Venison Roast Tender And Juicy
Roast Leg Of Lamb is a French classic for Easter, but tasty all year.

📖 Recipe